


From Valenwood

by Turwaithiel_Rainscent



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Animal Death, Bread, F/F, Fur, Gay, Gen, Leather, Lesbian Character, Lesbians, Nords (Elder Scrolls), Tanning, Wolves, Women Loving Women, elf woman, elf/nord relationship, it's cold in skyrim, stew, wood elf, wood elf woman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turwaithiel_Rainscent/pseuds/Turwaithiel_Rainscent
Summary: Skyrim gets a visitor from Valenwood that barely survives the attack on Helgen.This work is basically a chronicle of my headcanon of my original character/Dragonborn/lesbian wood elf archer Xadia as she makes her way through Skyrim. I will basically be writing what I do in the game with some embellishments and stories thrown in.Please R and R and enjoy it! :)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	From Valenwood

Xadia left Ralof after they escaped Helgen. She was grateful for his help, but...she just needed to be alone to think. That dragon had really shaken her up, what with destroying the entire town right when she was about to be beheaded. Beheaded because...she had tried to cross the border into Skyrim? The Imperials sure offed people easily if they didn’t fit into their little mold.

She shouldered the bow that she had picked off of a corpse in the keep and scanned the horizon for a direction. The left seemed good. She went off the path and started through the dense brush. 

Skyrim was...definitely different from Valenwood. For one thing, it was a lot colder and the Imperial armor that she had lifted provided next to no protection from the cold. Imperials and Nords must have thicker skin? She would have to find or make something better… Probably make, as she had maybe 20 gold coins to her name. They had taken everything when she was captured...

Just then there was a howl and a snarl as a wolf all but pounced on her. She made a startled gasp and quickly brought her knife out just in time, stabbing it in the throat. There had been no time to get out her bow, it being secured to her back. The blood flowed freely down her arm and over her bracers, the smell somewhat familiar, but… also different. She stepped back slowly and looked at the felled animal with its thick black fur an idea coming to her.

She carried the carcass of the fresh-kill up the side of the mountain. It wasn’t easy, but she had had lots of practice carrying packs to and from towns in Valenwood. Ah. Her home. Thinking about it made her nostalgic. The warm air, the trees, everything was green there. There was also a lot of rain. 

Here, everything was either white or brown and there was a lot of snow. Why had she come here again? She almost couldn’t remember. Maybe the soldiers had hit her head during the attack at the border? At least she didn’t have a headache.

She hauled the dead animal up to an unnamed cave and set to work skinning it carefully. Well, as carefully as she could while beginning to chatter with the cold. Once she had the skin off, she began taking the meat off. There was actually a lot on it, but it appeared to be tough, not tender. It didn’t much matter. She felt like she was starving. Imperials don’t exactly feed their prisoners well. 

She gathered some branches and made a fire at the mouth of the cave, her fingers shaking as she rubbed the sticks together to get a spark. A little spark, then a small fire was made. The flames licked at the wood eagerly as she added more and more until it was stable.

Then she took to roasting the meat. 

It was nearly night time when she was finished cooking the meat. She took some off of a stick and ate it hungrily. It was the best thing she had ever tasted… Well, that was a lie. It was seasoned well with hunger, and that was about it. She wondered if Nords used salt on anything, or if they just ate everything raw as she had heard. She smirked at the thought of one of the straw-haired Nords eating the flesh and blood off of a wolf, before settling down and falling into a short sleep while propped up against the side of the entrance to the cave. She was exhausted.

She awoke to a nudge at her foot. “Wha…?” It was a rabbit. She shooed it away before looking up at the sky. The sun was just beginning to climb over the mountain splashing oranges and pinks everywhere among the clouds. Her fire was all but a few dying embers in the cold. 

She carefully gathered her belongings and sighed. Without the carcass, everything was so much lighter. Maybe now she could concentrate on walking a bit easier. She hid her fire by kicking snow over it and headed along the mountain. 

After a couple of hours, she came to a small house on the side of the mountain. Out front, there was a nice cooking fire, tanning set up, and a table. “Hm...Hello?” She called out. There was no answer. She looked towards the cottage. The door was open. She stepped in, seeing a beautiful blonde Nord woman at another cooking fire stirring some soup. The scene smelled and looked amazing, as the woman was corded with taut and firm arm muscles as she worked. She looked healthy and strong. 

The woman looked up with her fierce grey eyes and stared at the Bosmer for a moment before saying in a strong and clear voice “Name's Angi and if you try anything stupid I won't hesitate to put in arrow in your head.“

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you,” she said as she approached from the side. “I’m just looking for some refuge for the night. My name is Xadia.” She held out a hand.

Angi took it and smiled a tight-lipped smile that was meant to be given to someone that she didn’t know. “Well, I’m glad you’re here, it’s not every day that I get visitors, and a girl can’t be too careful.” The Nord glanced at her again. “Would you like some stew? You look famished.” 

“I couldn’t impose...” Xadia started.

“I insist.” Angi got a wooden bowl and ladled some of the stew into it along with a large chunk of fresh bread. She handed it to the wood elf, and then got some herself, sitting with her a the table. She also poured some fresh ale out of the barrel and sat a wooden mug in front of her. “There you go. Eat up and tell me about yourself.”

Xadia was surprised. She hadn’t encountered this much kindness since she had stepped over the border. “Thank you so much.” She paused and took a deep drink of the ale. It was good with just the right amount of foam. “I just came down the mountain from Helgen,”

“Oh? How are things there? I haven’t been since...well, I haven’t been in a long time.”

Xadia frowned. Did she tell her what went on? She might need to know as this cabin was very close to the former town. “Helgen was ransacked by a dragon. I barely escaped with my life.”

Her eyes widened. “A dragon you say? I haven’t heard anything about a dragon in a very long time. Are you sure you’re just not telling me a tale?” She frowned and looked the elf up and down inquisitively. 

“I’m sure. Trust me, we can go up to Helgen if you want. I can prove it.” she took a piece of the bread and dunked it in the stew before taking a big bite out of it. It was deer with a bit of potato, carrots, onions, and something else she couldn’t place. Some herbs? “Delicious.” She said.

Angi beamed. “I’m glad you like it. I haven’t had anyone to share food with in a long time.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

Angi frowned and looked away after taking her own sip of the stew. “I left Helgen after I had killed my family’s murderer.”

The silence hung in the cabin. “Oh, I’m...I’m sorry.”

She turned her piercing grey eyes back to the elf. “Don’t feel sorry for me. That’s why I left. People just wouldn’t stop being sorry for my family. I hate people’s pity.”

“Duly noted,”

They sat in silence eating and drinking for a bit before the Nord said, “Why were you going this way from Helgen? Surely you could have followed the road to Riverwood?”

“I almost did, but I wasn’t in the mood to be around more people. After what had happened with the Imperials at Helgen right before the dragon...I didn’t want to run into any more of them.”

“I can certainly understand that.” She said as she got up and went towards the pot. “More stew?”

“Please,” 

Xadia watched as the Nord woman ladled some more of the delicious stew into her bowl. “It’s very good. What are the herbs you used?”

“Oh, just salt and a bit of garlic and elves ear,” she said.

The elf nodded, taking the bowl back. “I assume you’re talking about the plant elves ear, and not actual elves ears.” She said with a smirk.

“You got it,” Angi said as she sat back down with her own refilled bowl.

“Good, as I didn’t want to be getting all cannibalistic...no matter how hungry I was.” 

This rewarded her with a brief chuckle from the Nord.

They shared the rest of the stew in between them, along with a bit of the wolf meat from Xadia’s pack. The wood elf was pleased to know that Nords ate well when they could. That rumor was at least dashed, though she wondered what other rumors she would dispell while here…

Angi looked at her pack. “I see you have the skin of the wolf as well. Do you need help treating the skin? I’ve made some warm things with wolf fur before.”

“Yes, though I did have some ideas on how to treat it. I’m just not used to having to wear so much. It’s not very cold in Valenwood.”

“I bet not. I’ve never been, but I hear that it’s extremely warm there. I bet you don’t have to wear much of anything in that weather...” It might have been the light or a trick, but the wood elf thought she saw a little blush on the Nord’s pale cheeks. 

“That’s right, though we do use the skins of the animals that we kill still for clothing. Just not the fur, as that would be too hot.” She paused. “May I use your tannery?”

“Of course.”


End file.
